It’s hard to picture the Toledo women’s basketball team without its fearless floor general, senior guard Sophia Wiard.
But in an alternate universe, it is possible to imagine a completely different scenario.
CELEBRATING SUCCESS: UToledo recognizes the Class of 2023 with a series of stories featuring students receiving their degrees at spring commencement.
Instead of dishing out assists and knocking down three-pointers, envision Wiard sprinting around the basepaths of a baseball diamond or weaving through tacklers on her way to the end zone in a helmet and shoulder pads. It’s not as crazy as it sounds.
A native of Muskegon, Michigan, and the all-time leading scorer at Oakridge High School, Wiard always assumed that basketball would be her sport. But as an athletic, competitive child who always sought out a challenge, it definitely wasn’t her only sport.
Wiard played soccer for a few years when she was little, but even at a young age felt unfulfilled by the level of play that surrounded her. So, in second grade she decided to move from the pitch to the gridiron and play football.
“My mom and dad thought it was a joke at first,” Wiard said. “But when sign-ups came around and I still really wanted to play, they were all for it.”
Wiard played football until sixth grade, suiting up at running back, wide receiver and safety. And when she wasn’t deking defenders and scoring touchdowns, she was flashing the leather on the diamond. No, not softball (“I thought softball was too slow”) but baseball, which she played through seventh grade.
“When I was younger, I was a little more athletic than the other girls my age, so playing against the boys helped me challenge myself,” Wiard said. “I enjoyed the challenge. I grew up around a lot of boys who were faster and more athletic, so playing with them helped get me to where I am today.”
Senior guard Sophia Wiard, a two-time All-MAC honoree who graduates May 6 with a bachelor’s degree in finance, serves as the Rocket’s fearless floor general.
Wiard did eventually make the move to softball in eighth grade. It worked out pretty well too, as she was named runner-up for Miss Softball in the state of Michigan in her senior season.
After four seasons with the Rockets, though, it’s clear Wiard made the right decision when she committed to The University of Toledo early in her sophomore year of high school.
A two-time All-MAC honoree, she joined the 1,000 career point club this past season and helped lead Toledo to a MAC Tournament title and NCAA Tournament berth. She scored 15 points and played all 40 minutes in Toledo’s NCAA Tournament victory over No. 5 seed Iowa State, the program’s first tourney win since 1996.
“She’s extremely competitive,” head coach Tricia Cullop said. “I remember when we were recruiting her, we went up to watch an open gym and she was playing with the boys’ team.
“Sophia is always doing extra things to get better. She has always had the willingness to do whatever she could to be the best player she could be. She is as competitive as they come and she loves the game, but she’s also a tremendous person who makes everyone around her better.”
Aiding Wiard in her development as an athlete was the fact that she shared a home with one.
Her older sister Keyara played basketball at Grand Valley State and preceded Sophia as a basketball standout at Oakridge. The six-year age gap between the Wiard sisters has not hampered their relationship, which is as strong as ever.
“We’re six years apart, so people sometimes don’t think we should be as close as we are, but she’s my best friend,” Keyara said.
Wiard played football until sixth grade, suiting up at running back, wide receiver and safety.
The age gap doesn’t make a difference now and it didn’t make a difference when they were younger. When Keyara was a senior at Oakridge and going to open gyms, sixth-grader Sophia would tag along: not just to watch her sister play, but to join in on the action.
And Wiard wasn’t just there as an extra body to make the teams even. She routinely wowed the other high school players there with her ability.
“Growing up, she was around sports 24/7,” Keyara said. “She loved the game of basketball more than I did. When she was in sixth grade she would come with me to my summer league games and play with us. She was competitive and kept up with us.”
Playing with or against her sister, whether in the driveway or in a gym, helped mold Wiard into one of the best guards in the Mid-American Conference. “Ultimately, playing with my sister made me who I am today,” Wiard said. “She wouldn’t show me any mercy.”
Wiard’s credentials are unimpeachable when it comes to toughness and competitiveness. She owns Toledo’s single-season record for minutes played (1,213 in 2021-22) and saw 1,169 minutes on the court in 2022-23, which ranks fifth all-time in program history. Wiard averaged 39.4 minutes per game over the final seven contests of the season.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Wiard said. “Obviously after game days, sometimes I’m hurting, but I don’t want to not be out there with my teammates. And even if I’m tired, I’m prepared to run through a wall for them.”
Perhaps the ultimate example of Wiard’s toughness was in her junior year in Toledo’s WNIT victory at Marquette on March 24, 2022.
In the closing moments of the Rockets’ 92-82 win over the Golden Eagles, a collision on the court ended with Wiard falling face-first onto the court. Luckily, she escaped serious injury, but the incident left her with a bloody lip that required stitches to repair and damage to four of her teeth, two of which were pushed back in her mouth.
Sophia Wiard and her older sister Keyara. The six-year age gap between them has not hampered their relationship, which is as strong as ever.
Of course, that didn’t stop her from trying to get back on the court.
“I couldn’t close my mouth because my teeth were pushed back and my bite alignment was off,” Wiard said. “But I told coach I was ready to go back in if they needed me.”
“I said ‘good try,’ but we’re not going to let you do that,’ ” Cullop said. “When we voted for captains at the beginning of this year every player stands up and says why they want to be a captain. Sophia said, ‘I gave my four front teeth for you guys,’ which gave us a good laugh. But that’s a good example of the type of person she is, who would give anything and more to help our team.”
Wiard still has one more year of eligibility thanks to the free “COVID year” granted to all NCAA Division I student-athletes in 2020, and that’s where her focus lies for now. She is set to graduate with her bachelor’s degree in finance this May and plans to become a financial advisor down the road.
Wiard grew up wanting to play basketball overseas, but since her nephews entered the picture she can’t see herself spending so much time away from them, though she would be open to the right situation should one arise.
Those are decisions for Future Sophia to worry about. In the meantime, she is simply enjoying the present.
“I love it here,” Wiard said. “It’s crazy to think that I made such a good decision when I was only 16.”
